Lined carton



Sept. 17, 1946.- f H. J. sTorrlER 2,407,802

' LINED CARTON Filed May l, 1941 2 SheetsSheet 1 INVINTOR HERBLRT JZSATOTTER BY 617W?? ATT'ORN EYS H. J. S'ETGTTEFE LINED CARTON gep. i?,1946.

Filed May 1, 1941' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l INVENITOR HERE/zr .I .STQTTER WWW*ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 17, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LINEDCARTON Herbert J. Stotter, Shaker Heights, Ohio Application May 1, 1941,Serial No. 391,318

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to an improvement in lined cartons and a methodof making them, and, more particularly, to a method of making and lininga standard four side carton upon standard carton machinery with a linerofheat-sealable material and a lined carton made by this method, theliner in the` carton being so arranged and constructed that its openmouth may be easily flattened to be securely sealed.

The well-known standard paper board or cardboard cartons, in whichsubstantially all massproduction merchandise is sold, are the so-calledfour sided cartons which are comprised. of a front panel, a rear panel,side panels, glue lap,

`and end flaps formed from an integral blank Without altering theuconstruction o f the machine or its sequence of operations, but bysimply adding a simple element and interposing the operation of theadded element so that it would not interfere with the standardoperations. This invention achieves that objective.

I-Ieretofore, any lined cartons which have been susceptible ofmanufacture on any sort of automatic machinery, standard or otherwise,have ,not been entirely satisfactory because of the location andarrangement of the longitudinal seam which forms the liner sheet into atube. The form of the longitudinal seam in the liner presented aparticularly diiiicult obstacle to overcome when it was attempted toheat-seal the open mouth of a lled carton. The two types of longitudinalliner seam used heretofore were either av lap seam or a face-to-faceseam Von a reversely turned fin. -The lap Seam itself Vcould not beheat-sealed and the extra thickness of the liner at the lap Vmadeheat-sealing of the mouth of thef liner diflicult. The face-to-face`seam on a reversely turned iin could be heatsealed, but, to`seal` themouth ofrthis type of liner, the reversely turned n lmust be unfolded toobtain a seal Without reentrant folds or extra thicknesses of material.`"Ihisrenders `suchliners with a reversely turned lin diflicult to usein automatic or semi-automatic sealers, particularly in the case offour-sided cartons where the iin is located at .the corner of the cartonand thus requires a flat seal at the mouth of the liner to extenddiagonally of the erected carton. All of the foregoing objections areovercome by this invention which' provides a liner with a substantiallybutt-welded longitudinal seam detectible only by the presence of a finelongitudinal bead which is so small that it does not interfere with thesealing of the mouth of the liner. In a lined four-sided carton madeaccording to this invention, longitudinal fins on the liners areeliminated and the mouth of the liner may be sealed along a lineparallel to the front and back panels of the carton in an automatic orsemi-automatic heatsealer.

Another object of this invention is to provide a lined carton in whichthe inner liner, though formed from a flat liner sheet attached to aflat carton blank and, consequently, formed simultaneously with theformation of the flat blank, may be pulled out of the completed cartonas a separable bag element. Heretofore, in lined cartons in which theliner constituted a separable bag element, the liner was a preformed bagaround which the carton was formed or a preformed bag inserted into thecompleted carton. My invention eliminates the heretofore necessary, bagpreforming operation.

Otherobjects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from thefollowing specifi cation, claim and drawings, in which: f

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a flat four-sided carton blank with a, linersheet attached.V

Fig. 2 is a `plan view of the carton blank shown in Fig. 1 after thefirst folding operation and illustrating the formation of thelongitudinal side seams `in the liner.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of a completed collapsed flat tubular linedfour-sided carton formed from the blank shown in Fig. l but with bottomflaps turned up to show the bottom mouth of the liner sealed. l

Fig. 4 is a top view of a four-sided carton erected from the collapsedcondition shown in Fig. 3 and illustrating the manner of flattening `themouth of the liner.

In the drawings, which disclose one form of a four-sided cartonembodying my invention, I0 represents the blank' of cardboard,,pasteboard corrugated paperboard, or like paper stock from which the outer shell of the lined carton is made. In the carton blank, `visibleedges and cutsA are shown in heavy solid lines, invisible (i. e., Viewedthrough the liner) cuts and edges are shown as light single dash lines,visible score lines are shown as heavy double dash lines, and invisiblescore lines are shown as light double dash lines. Between the parallellongitudinal edges I I and I2 of the blank Il are the four parallellongitudinal score lines I3, I4, I5, and I6. The spaced top fold line Iland,y bottom V,fold line I6, which may bevv completely scored or partlycutand scored, as the end flap construction requires,"are parallel toeach other and extend at right angles to the longitudinal score lines.The top and bot" tom lines and the longitudinal edges andscore linesdene the glue lap 2|, front panel 22, `,left side panel 23, back panel24 and right side panel" 25, as shown in Fig. 1, the front-,and backpanels being of equal width but the glue lap being nar. *I rower thanthe side panels, which areof equal width.

e The bottom closure' in. thecarto'n i made Vfrom the! blank IfshownfinFig-1 is designed-to be provided With'a sealed endY closure. iThefblankIn, therefore, isp'rovided withrthecustomaryseal; ing aps 3l, 32,933,andv34 integral Wi-thrthe glue lapl and panelsZ-I; -22, '23, and 24,'respectively, along lthe bottom fold line ISS The top closure of thecartonmadefrom the blank-I 'is designed tobe Vprovided with'atuck-inclosure. The blank I Il; therefore, is rprovided with "the customarysideaps V4| and d3 and tuck-in flap dintegralwith the glue lap 2|,sidepane1`l23, and rear' panel-2li,

respectively, valong the topf old line- I l. f The" endclosuresdescribed above are"-merely described'by way 'of example,the''particularl styleofendclosure or'arrangementand location of the end`flap being more yfor llessI immaterial to this invention. It ispreferred, however, that the panel inside `the vside scoreli'ne (i. e.,toward' thecenter of the blankiwith respect to the side score line,ltheline lrbeing 'the'side score line fin' this disclosureybe provided withboth-'top and bottom flaps, and that the' outside edges -ofv these napsbecontinuations V`of' the side s'core'flinex It isjalso preferredkjacent't"he 'sidejscoreline be cut'scores rather than creas'edorpressedscer'esgand, further,r that these topand bottom iiaps` 'extend' to' orslightlyfbey'ond the top fandV bottom'jed'ge'sof "the lliner sheet;

'rhe nner sheet 5eisofjsucii-e Ilength theti't will extend beyondv thetopfand*bottomfoldfiines asuicient distance'topermit the top edge andthe *bottom edge Yto be sealed lwhen the ycarton is formed anderected:The width of the'liner' Y lblank-f'IIl-bymea'ns of suitable areas of'adhesive 6I, 62, 63, and 64 applied tothe-glue' iapand panelslZI, '22,23,r and 24, respectively; Additional spots ory lines ottemperaryadhesive 66,* 61,' and -68 may be.: applied ft'ofthei endflaps- 44, '4I,"and- 34, respectively,` to" temporarily-adhere' -the top `co'r- .nersvl and the `bottomcorners of theY liner r-sheet iii!A to .the severalapsadjacent Y the longitudinal IPO 4 margins 52 and 54 during thefabrication of the carton in standard carton machinery. The liner sheet56 is composed of heat-scalable sheet stock, which is also water-proofor moisture-proof, and may also be oil-proof, depending upon the needsand characteristics of the product being packaged. Examples of sheetstock meeting the requirements of the liner sheet 56 are rubberhydrohalide lm, such as the rubberhydrochloride film known commerciallyas Pliolnn polyvinyl )resin film, such as the polyvinylchloride and/orpolyvinyl acetate film known commercially as Koroseal or Vinylite,cellulose acetate, or any 'otherthermoplastic film which will sealV orweld .i .withganinner (with respect to the complete carton) surfacelaminated orcoated with thermoplasticheat-sealing material, such as anatural or synthetic thermoplastic heat-sealing resin and/or a`plasticizer.v :In any event,.the1ining sheet 50 should vbe thin enoughso that,` two thicknesses may be cut through ibya knife against theblank vHJ or against a cooperating vmetal anvil as the carton Ablankpasses through a gluer in a standard carton machine set-up. f f D i 4Tofabricate my carton in standard carton machinery, the blank I0 is firstcutout of suitable board sheet stock in any suitable die-cutter. Thedieecut flat blankl 0 is then run through a standard window pastingmachine which spots the sev- Veral'l areas of adhesive 6|,.62, 63,64,66, 61, and'68 upon the blank I0 and substantially simultaneously cutso'ff the liner sheet .5B from a rollfof liner stock and Vappliestheliner sheet 50 to the blank I6, to form the combinedblank yand line`sheet as' shown in Fig. 11.'

f Thecombined blank I and liner sheet 5G is then'passed through astandard gluer which first applies the longitudinal band of adhesive 65to the side panelnZt'v-by` means of a glue wheeler vsiinilar'standardadhesive applying means. rThe combined blank andV liner is then foldedalong thecentral score line I4 kso thatfthe glue lap 2| overlies-thebackpanel` 24 vand at least a portion of thelongitudinalliner-margin :52will overlie .theliner margin 54 in substantially face-to-face Contact,the 'margin 52 lbeing Wide enough so that thelongitudinal edge V'5I `ofthe liner 5B will ex'- tend Voutside and beyond the side Vscore line 'I5whenthe combined carton blankr and Vliner are so Vfoldedyas shown inFig. 2 of the drawings. Y

fUptothis'point, the operation and procedure have been the standard'andconventional ones in Y the manufacture'of standard four-sided cartons,

except insofar asl'the liner sheet 50 is located somewhatdiierently from`andjis larger (in pro.- portion to the size of the blank Ill) Vthan'the Win dowof transparent film normally applied in a standardvwindowmachine'. It is also novel practise to providethe preferred spots oftemporary -adhesive e6, "G'Ijand 68.' Even 'thesegexceptionstolsta'ndard practiseY do not require^alterations inthewindow ymachineor changes in procedure "but merelyjrequire Aa slightly differentsettingjof the sheet jcuttingand vspotting elements of the machine; Atthis point, however, is interposed the additional step inthe otherwisesubstantially standard procedure and an Aadditional element must-beadded `to a" standard-gluer. With the folded*l carton blank passingvthrough the kgluer in thefdirection indicated bytheldirectionalarlrow'in Fig. 2, :it passes underasealing andeutalong alongitudinal seam 'H to form the liner sheet 50 into a tube. It is alsothis point at which the preferred spots of temporary adhesive 66 and 61serve their function.` Because the feeding tapes run continuously in astandard gluer, thus moving the blanks uninterruptedly through themachine, heat-sealing `and cut-o element lll is held stationary byfastening it to a suitable fixed member in the machine,` the foldedblank being dragged under, i. e., through, the heat-sealing andV cut-offelement by the feeding tapes. If the heat-sealing and cut-off element 'lis simply a stationary heated knife, as shown in Fig. 2, the linersheetmargins 52`and 54, being free and loose from the blank l0, wouldruck up as the forward edge of the liner sheet 50 was engaged by theheat-sealing and cut-off element l0. This tendency of the loose linermargins to ruck may be minimized by having the, element l comprised of'aheated wheel provided with a sharp knife edge,v or a heatednarrow-rimmed wheel which rst engages and heat-seals the overlying pliesof the liner sheet and a knife immediately following the heatednarrow-rimmed wheel, which outs through the heat-seal and trims off themargins 52, and D, or by mounting the element 10 so that it is normallyraised but is lowered into engagement with the blank by a suitabletimer, such as an electric eye timer, for example, just as the forwardedge of; the liner5l] passes under the element 1t. Regardless of whichone of the suitable heat-sealing and cut-off elements may be employed,the tendency of the forward edge of the liner sheet 55 to ruck up isprevented by providing the spots of adhesive and 61 which adhere theforward edge of the liner'sheet 5o adjacent the margins 52 and 54 to therelatively stiffer naps of the blank lil. Thus, as the heat-sealingcut-orf element engages the `forward edge of the liner sheet 5I), theliner sheet Will be held and prevented from rucking and wrinkling. Ifthe heat-seal and cut-off is started correctly, there is no especialtendency for theplies of the liner sheet 50 to ruck up thereafter,particularly if the bottom ply is secured to the blank ll) adjacent theseam ll, as by the area of adhesive 64, for example.

`It should be particularly noted that tHe seam 1| is formed on or justinside the side score line I6. Thus, no reversely turned fin will beformed when the carton is completed and erected, and yet the seam in theliner will be substantially supported by the corner which is formed inerecting the carton and folding the blank along the longitudinal sidescore4 line lr6. When it is stated hereinafter that the `longitudinalseam in the liner is formed at the side score line, it is to beunderstood that the seam is located on or just inside the side scoreline.

By providing the panel inside the side score line with flaps havingoutside edges which are extensions of the side score line, it is usuallypossible to cut through the superimposed plies of the liner sheetagainst the blank throughout the length of the longitudinal seam in theliner sheet. Also, by cut-scoring the portions of the laterallyextending score lines which the longitudinal liner seam crosses, thereare no creased score lines which the element ll! must ride over informing the seam 1l. Such creased score lines could cause the elementlll to jump and fail to form the seam 'll at the lateral score lines.However, in the event that the carton blank is not provided with top andbottom naps having outside edges which are extensions of the side score,line, or in `the Vevent that the stock in' the blank is too soft topermit the element 'l u to heatsealand cut-oil` the lmer 5u directlyagainst the blank';lthelelement lu may be provided with va thin-metalanvil which will'slipbetween the overlyingliner and the blankto permitthe element 'l .to out and heat-seal the liner against the hard surfaceof the anvil rather than against the soft surface ofthe blank. l

It should also be pointed out that the seam H is very narrow, beingpreferably about as wide as the thickness of one`ply of the liner sheet.Thus, the seam 'it is substantially a butt joint rather than awideiacefto-iace joint.` Because the inner surfacesof the liner are actuallywelded together at the seam li, the seam is as strong as ,the linermaterial and just as strong as the Wide lap or face-to-aoe seams,believed to `be necessary heretofore, could be. In the drawings, theWidth of theseam H is exaggerated for purposes of illustration.Actually, the seam 'll may be `scarcely perceptible, being noticeableonly as a slight bead onthe outer surface of the tubed liner sheet.

...After the longitudinal seam 'il is formed,the

remainder ofthe operations in forming` the lined carton are standardoperations performed in standard carton machinery. After thelongitudinal seam H is formed, the next operation in the gluer` is thatof folding over the side Ipanel 25 along the side score line I6 andadhering the panel 25 to the :glue lap2l by means of the bland ofadhesive t5. This operation, in the formation of standard unlinedfour-,sided cartons, normally follows immediatelyA after` the operationof folding the blank along the central score line.

After the blank has .passed through the gluer, it is in the form of aflat collapsed lined tube. In most instances it may be regarded as beingcomplete for sale to the user. However, some users may want the flatVcollapsed cartons delivered with the bottom of the liner tube sealed. Insuch instances, the flat collapsed tubular carton is then taken from thegluer and passed through a right-angle gluer. In a right angle gluer thecarton is fed throughY the machine in the direction indicated by thedirectional arrow in Fig. 3. The right-angle gluer first folds back thebottom flaps 3| and. 32, as shown in Fig. 3, exposing the bot` tom ofthe tubular liner 56 which rests upon the bottom aps 33 and 34. Thebottom seal 'l2 is then formed by passing the carton under any suitableheat-sealing device, such as a heated narrow-'rimmed wheel, for example,substituted for the usual glue wheel in a right-angle gluer. No out-oifdevice is necessary in this sealing operation. In the particular cartonshown, the seal 'l2 is formed by the heat-sealing device pressing theplies of the liner together against the unfolded bottom laps. If thebottom flaps do not form a substantially continuous surface under theseal, the heat-sealer for the seam 'l2 should be equipped with an anvilplate to support the.

` 'l2 extends from the central score line to the side score line, whichbecome diagonally opposite corners when the at collapsed carton iserected. Because the seam 12 will thus extend substantally diagonallyacross the bottom of the carton when erected, the seal 12 must be spacedVbelow fold line I8. to the seal l'12,.as shown in Fig. vv3,

should be equal to .Y l A To fold the. particular carton shown,l theuser erects the lflat collapsed carton and the bottom aps' are sealed orpasted together in the usual manner toform a sealed bottom. `The topflaps will then be pulled down in the usual manner, as

shown in Fig. 4,-to allow the'liner mouth to'be ilattened ,alongthe'line 73 parallel to the front andlback panels for sealing, in anyysuitable heatsealer. Because the spots of temporary adhesive 88 and 5l,which adhered the forward edge of the liner to the Viiaps duringfabrication, yare very weak and designed for temporary adhesion only,

. the mouth of theliner is separated from the flaps without resistance.-After the mouth of the `liner issealed and folded down, the flaps may-berclosed in the usual manner. 1 Y

YFor clarity of illustration, the areas of adhesive 6l, 62, $3, and 64are shown in Fig. l as the somewhat conventional heavy rectangular areasof adhesive' which adhere the liner sheet to the margins of the panelsofthe blank.` If these areas are as'heavy as shown in Fig. l, the linerY 50 will, for all intents and purposes, be permanently secured in theouter carton, since it would be practically necessary to tear the outercarton apart to remove the liner 50. However, just as the smally spotsor linesof adhesive 56, 61, and 68 will temporarilyadhere the liner 50to the blank I during the formation of the lined carton but permit theliner to be readily separated from the flaps after the carton is formed,so maythe areas of adhesive El, 62, B3, and 64 comprise light lines orspots of adhesive ywhich serve as somewhat temporary areas of adhesiveto adhere. the liner sheet `50 to the blank lil during the formation ofthe carton. Thus, after the carton is formed, the linert is notinterlocked with the bottom flap or between the glue lap and side paneland, consequently, may be simply pulled out of the cartones a readilyseparable bag element. When the carton is packed with greasy or pastymaterials, it is particularly convenient to be able to separate theliner readily to squeeze out or otherwise remove the greasy or pastycontents.

- Ar packagel maderfrom my cartonis sift-proof, :moisture-proof, andeven oil-proof, if ztheliner .itself is oil-proof, because allseams inthe liner sheet arevthoroughly heat-sealed. It will be Anoted in Fig. 4that the longitudinal seam .1I and the .lateral top heat-seal will have.to cross.

Because the seam "H is so fine, however, itwill notl preventV asecurentop heat-seal fromlbeing obtained. It doesl notact asan extrathickness of material as did the seamsin vthe lappedor face-to-.facevlongitudinal seams employedY heretofore. Y Y

From the foregoing, it is apparentthat bymy method a lined four-sidedcarton may be made in standard four-sided carton machinery without 4substantially alteringthelmachinery itself or the sequence ofnormaloperations. It is also apparent that acarton with alongitudinally. seamed linenmadeaccording tomy invention, may be morereadilyhandled in automatic carton filling and. sealing machinery since.my carton liner eliminatesthe objectionable. lap or face-to-facereversely turned iin seams employed heretofore. My invention, therefore,`though intended primarilyfor standard four-sided cartons, may beapplied to improve.other special types ofcartons, such as the vso-calledsix-sided cartons, or the like, whichV must. be manufactured on specialmachinery. .Y MyV invention, therefore, is Vnot -limited totheparticular embodiment disclosed, either in whole or in part, but islimited only tothe scopevof the following claim. 4In the claim, themeaning imparted to theterrnsis to: be Vconsistent with'th'e use ofthesame terms .iin this specification.

Whatis claimed-is:- Y p In a cartonof the class described, a at tubularfour-sided cartonA blank folded along two parallel longitudinal zscorelines, a vheat-scalable linerV sheet adhered to the inner surface 4of`said tubular carton. blank, and a longitudinal .seam in said liner,said seam being comprised of heat# sealed edges of said liner sheet andlocated at a fold in said blank, said blankr having a` second pairoflongitudinal score lines parallel to said two scorelines and top andbottom fold lines transverse to said score lines, said score lines andsaid fold lines defining a front panel, a back panel,l and two sideYpanels, vand a transverse heat-sealed seamextending across saidlinerparallel to said bottom fold line, said transverse heat-sealed seambeing spaced from said bottom fold line at least a distance equal tothesquare root `of one-half the product of the widths of the front paneland the side panel.

Y HERBERT J. STOTTER.

